Angry Metal Guy reviews Senjutsu...4 years later

I like Senjutsu (the song) but opening Legacy of the Beast with it was a mistake imo. Honestly just swapping Senjutsu and Stratego would have been fine and a more imaginative choice.
Big disagree. I know it was a controversial move but at my show it was such an incredible powerhouse of an opener. The band killed it, Nicko’s drumming had everyone hyped, and then “Stratego” hit afterward and took things to another dimension. I think LOTB 3 was a better experience than I expected going in and might’ve been an overall stronger concert than I saw in 2019.
 
A big piece of a Maiden concert is the energetic opener and I'm not sure if a dead crowd for the first half hour was the right way to ring in Maiden's post-pandemic return, even though I respect the band sticking to their guns and showing off the new material on a tour oriented more toward hits. I like the inclusion of the songs but I'm not sure there's an argument that the show had an ideal flow for a Maiden show.
 
I'll be honest, I've seen the majority of Maiden tours since the reunion era and LOTB 2022 was probably my least favorite.. I think they took a really exciting setlist and staging concept and kinda turned it into something that lacked an identity/flow.
 
On paper, yes. Seeing it in person… the pummeling title track leading right into “Stratego” and then TWOTW, feeling almost like it was already canonized as a live favorite. The emotional catharsis of “Blood Brothers”. SOTC and “Icarus” blowing down the roof. That dude jumping up excited as fuck when “Hallowed” began. “The Clansman” actually really coming to life in the encore. Even the fucking Spitfire at the very end like one last hurrah from Eddie and the boys. It was a great concert. I went in with almost no excitement (plus a panic attack on the drive there lol) and left over the moon.
 
I remember seeing videos of Senjutsu opening the Legacy of the Beast shows and finding it very odd to see the guys just kinda wander out onto the stage instead of in a big explosion of energy, it was also kinda disheartening to see that the band were finally showing their age.

Then, The Future Past and Run For Your Lives happened, and seeing them burst onto the stage playing Caught Somewhere in Time and Murders in the Rue Morgue squashed any of my worries about age.
 
I remember seeing videos of Senjutsu opening the Legacy of the Beast shows and finding it very odd to see the guys just kinda wander out onto the stage instead of in a big explosion of energy, it was also kinda disheartening to see that the band were finally showing their age.

Then, The Future Past and Run For Your Lives happened, and seeing them burst onto the stage playing Caught Somewhere in Time and Murders in the Rue Morgue squashed any of my worries about age.
Exactly. It sucked.

Going back over the tours before we had the likes of different world, wicker Man, final frontier, wildest dreams and back further Futureal opening album sets. Much more energetic
 
I saw Maiden in 2022. The place didn’t really get into the gig until Icarus. I still loved hearing everything before it (I even liked Senjutsu live), but the setlist was not well paced. Plus the whole ‘moving house’ tearing the Senjutsu stage down looked ridiculous on daylight.
 
LOTB 2022 Lisbon was a good concert and i enjoyed the new Senjutsu stuff but i didn`t rate Senjutsu as an opener , total lack of energy.I could have done without Blood Brothers again to be honest .

Stratego, TWOTW , Icarus , Revelations were great though.
 
LOTB 2022 Lisbon was a good concert and i enjoyed the new Senjutsu stuff but i didn`t rate Senjutsu as an opener , total lack of energy.I could have done without Blood Brothers again to be honest .

Stratego, TWOTW , Icarus , Revelations were great though.
The Revelations, Blood Brothers, Sign of the Cross and Flight of Icarus lineup was top drawer. Not as good a the run from Revelations to Icarus in 2018/19. That was outstanding.
 
I remember seeing videos of Senjutsu opening the Legacy of the Beast shows and finding it very odd to see the guys just kinda wander out onto the stage instead of in a big explosion of energy
I maintain the better approach would've been to replace "Doctor, Doctor" with perhaps a 5 minute edit of "Senjutsu" on tape (like Nightwish did on the Human :II: Nature tour with "Music"), and then blast onto the stage with "Stratego." Then they could've added a third song from Senjutsu in the setlist as well.
 
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